This invention relates in general to golfing equipment, and in particular to an alignment device for aiding a user of the golf club to properly align the striking face of a golf club with the intended path of ball travel.
When striking a golf ball, it is important to correctly align the striking face of the golf club with the intended travel direction of the ball. In order to correctly hit or strike the ball in the intended direction, the striking face of the golf club must be positioned at a normal angle relative to the intended travel direction of the ball. If the striking face of the golf club is not normal to the intended travel direction of the ball, the club will strike the ball at a non-perpendicular angle, thereby propelling the ball to the left or right of the intended travel direction. As the user swings the club, such as a putter, the head of the golf club swings in an arcuate path. The arcuate path lies generally in a vertically orienting plane. Preferably, the generally flat striking surface of the putter is perpendicular with the plane upon impact with the ball.
It is known to provide alignment devices to aid the user in properly orienting the striking face of the club relative to the intended travel direction of the ball. Some of these devices are attached to the shaft of the club. In one such known device, as is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,951,415, a golf putter sighting device is resiliently clamped to the shaft of the club. The sighting device includes a pair of spaced apart sights, such as colored beads, which extend outwardly from an elongated main body portion of the sighting device. The main body portion of the sighting device extends in a direction parallel to the striking face of the putter when properly positioned on the putter shaft. The pair of opposed sights extend outwardly from an end of the main body portion in a direction normal to the length of the main body. When properly attached to a putter shaft, each pair of sights are exposed when the user looks downwardly at the shaft. Thus, as the user looks downwardly at the shaft and sighting device, the main body portion is covered or hidden by the shaft but the sights are visible from the sides of the shaft. During swinging of the club, the user aligns the device such that the pair of sights are equally visible upon impact of the ball, thereby properly aligning the striking face of the club at a perpendicular direction with respect to the intended travel direction of the ball. However, maintaining or observing equally visible sights is typically difficult for most golfers. Also, the highly decorative color of the sights is often distracting to the golfer during the swing. Since the spaced apart sights are permanently at a set space or width apart, golfers of differing heights will not see the same visual indicators. For example, for taller golfers, the sights may not be spaced sufficiently apart from one another to see completely at the edges of the shaft. It is therefore desirable to provide an improved alignment device.